Held on charge of helping LTTE

(October, 12,Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) The 'Q' branch police have arrested a senior Dalit Panthers of India (DPI) functionary on charges of "helping the banned LTTE", after spares meant for superfast boats sent to him from Norway were seized recently by officials of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Chennai Port.

A highly placed official said that Jayaraj Rathinam alias Vanniarasu (36), a life-convict, was arrested last night. He had received a consignment of propellers and steering wheels from Oslo in Norway and the DRI officials detected a customs duty evasion.

When questioned, Vanniarasu had said it was part of tsunami relief meant for fishermen. However, officials discovered that the parts were meant for high-speed motor boats, following which the DRI alerted the 'Q' branch, he said.

On investigation, it was found that he was a life-convict and out on bail. He had developed contacts with a member of the LTTE, Karupiah, while at Madurai prison in 1997.

The consignment of seized spares are believed to have been sent to Vanniarasu by Karupiah from Norway, he said, adding that the latter had intended to smuggle them into Sri Lanka.

The arrested has also been charged with acquiring a passport using fake documents, with which he had even travelled to the island nation.

Vanniarasu had been charged with assisting a banned outfit and travelling on a fake passport. He has been remanded to judicial custody.